Aaditya Thackeray urges Fadnavis to stop floating hoardings off Mumbai coast

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray has urged Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to intervene over the permission for "floating hoardings" in the sea off Mumbai. Thackeray called the decision highly irresponsible and said it would mar the city's beauty.

Thackeray has written a letter to Fadnavis and shared a copy of it on the social media platform X on Thursday. In the letter, he said unchecked pollution had not been met with any serious action to curb it. As a result, the sea is barely visible from most parts of the city, even from a short distance, he said.

Thackeray wrote, "Sadly, after this absurd decision that backs a cartel of hoarding contractors, all that will be visible will be advertisements plastered on the faces of citizens, citizens who are already bearing the brunt of unchecked pollution on land."

The decision has been taken by the Mumbai Maritime Board, which has decided to allow floating advertisements on barges, or large boats, near the city's well-known waterfront.

Criticising the move, Thackeray said the city should have a policy on hoardings. According to him, the policy should regulate LED hoardings that disturb citizens at night and also cap the number of hoardings across the city.

He also contended that beauty should take precedence over a cartel, and that this should be the norm. But, he said, the decision chose contractors over beauty.

Thackeray, the Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA from Worli, urged the Chief Minister in the letter: "I request you to intervene and stop this decision, which is highly irresponsible, possibly corrupt as well, and certain to spoil the beauty of Mumbai."

Earlier, on October 24, Thackeray had also written to Chief Minister Fadnavis. That letter concerned a proposed artificial intelligence (AI) data centre in a residential area of Thane. In it, he raised concerns and asked why the decision had been taken to build the facility there.

In a social media post, Thackeray said the project had been imposed on the people of Thane. He alleged that despite protests against the facility, many of the citizens' concerns remain unanswered.

The Shiv Sena (UBT) leader also said the state government had formed a committee after a protest, and that he himself had taken part in it. However, he questioned the composition of the committee. He claimed that, apart from its head, almost all the members are ex-officio members from the administration.